Eye Health Report Reveals Inequalities in Testing
A recent report has highlighted that nearly 17.5 million people in the UK haven’t had an eye test in the last two years.
This startling statistic was published in a report commissioned by Eye Health UK and the Thomas Pocklington Trust.
The “Eye Q” report highlighted “stark eye health inequalities” and a gap in public knowledge around the services that are available in optometry practices on the High Street. The report was released to mark National Eye Health Week (19–25 September) and sought to determine the public’s knowledge, understanding and behaviours around eye health and sight tests.
Surveying adults from the UK of varying ages, only 47% of people rank their eyesight as “Fair” on a scale ranging from excellent to very poor.
Sadly, the report revealed that Ethnic minority groups were twice as likely to rate their vision as ‘Poor/Very Poor,’ compared to the UK average.
Households with a combined income of less than £14,000 were five times more likely to say their vision was very poor, in comparison to a family income which exceeded £80,000.
Out of the 17.5 million people who hadn’t had an eye test over the past two years, a huge percentage of those individuals were males.
Looking into the reasons as to why people avoided having an eye test, 36% said that the cost of eye care was serious barrier to looking after their eyes. Amongst those that were surveyed there was also a strong viewpoint that “if your eyes are fine you don’t need to have an eye test”
Another worrying statistic the Eye Q report revealed was 18% of people with sight loss who have not had a recent eye test, thought that their hospital consultant was already monitoring their general eye health. A viewpoint which is sadly mistaken.
Commenting on the report, Lesley Cree of Lesley Cree Opticians said “Clearly the Eye Q report highlights an alarming number of people are still unaware of the benefits of having an eye test on a regular basis. More than 50% of sight loss is preventable, so getting your eyes tested by your local opticians can help prevent, or limit, the damage caused by certain eye conditions.”
Ben Cree, Director at Lesley Cree Opticians added “It remains evident from the Eye Q report that as Optometry practitioners there is still a lot, we need to do in order to raise the level of understanding regarding our eyes and find ways in which we can provide eye care at an affordable cost. Our message would be, get regular eye health checks even if you think your eyes are ok, and never ignore changes in your vision.”
For the past two years Lesley Cree Opticians has been utilising the state-of-the-art laser Optos eye scanner to provide the best in eye heath care for our patients.
The Optos scanner combines both an OCT scan, and an ultra-wide image of the retina known as an Optomap. Whereby traditional methods typically reveal only 15% of the retina at one time, the Optomap captures more than 80% of the retina in one panoramic image.
If you are concerned about your eyesight and want to book an appointment to have your eyes tested, you can do so via our online booking form, or alternatively you can ring the practice on 0115 9332999.
